Overdue Podcast: Ep 736 – Consider the Consequences! by Doris Webster and Mary Alden Hopkins

Date: January 5, 2026
Hosts: Craig & Andrew
Podcast Theme: Reviewing books you’ve been meaning to read—one per week, from beloved classics to obscure finds.

Episode Overview

Craig and Andrew kick off the new year by revisiting one of their favorite odd literary formats: the early interactive gamebook. Consider the Consequences! (1930), written by Doris Webster and Mary Alden Hopkins, is touted as the first published interactive novel with branching choices—a precursor to “Choose Your Own Adventure.” In this episode, recorded live with Patreon supporters, the hosts play through the book, discuss the history of gamebooks, and explore its three main narrative perspectives: Helen, Jed, and Saunders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. History and Context of the Book [06:26–08:33]

• Consider the Consequences! (1930) is probably the earliest known English-language interactive fiction book, preceding the “Choose Your Own Adventure” series by several decades.
• The gamebook genre began to coalesce stylistically in the late 1960s to 1970s. Examples include E.W. Hildick’s Lucky Les (1967) and the Adventures of You series by Edward Packard and R.A. Montgomery.
• Recent renewed interest—reprints, radio adaptations, and digital ports—surfaced around 2018–2023. Pushkin Press has reissued the book.
• The book entered the U.S. public domain in early 2025.

“This is considered to be the first published interactive game book narrative with choices inside of it.” (Craig, 06:38)

2. Authors’ Biographies & Their “Party Books” [11:48–19:37]

• Mary Alden Hopkins: Journalist, suffragist, Wellesley & Columbia-educated, active in the Women’s Peace Party (antiwar, WWI). Her outspoken writing led to allegations of treason.
• Doris Webster: Less info is known; she co-wrote several books with Hopkins and also co-authored a romance novel with her husband.
• The pair produced a series of "party books"—intended as conversation starters and parlor activities at social gatherings. Titles include I've Got Your Number, Marriage Made Easy, and Dynamite; or, What Do People Think About You?
• Notable concept lines from Dynamite:

  “Keep away from this book if you are afraid to take the risk of having your convictions shaken...”

• The books often blur the line between game, personality test, and advice manual.

Memorable Quote:

“[Party books were] like Cranium for the millennials in the early 2010s... Just what you did at a party was crack open one of these books.” (Andrew, 16:04)

3. Critical Reception in the 1930s [20:10–22:15]

• Mixed reactions: Some dismissed the book as “not literature,” better suited for parlor games than literary merit.

• Others praised the book’s interactive elements:

  “If the denouement doesn't please, it's one's own fault.” —Salt Lake Tribune

• The hosts poke fun at stuffiness:

  “You ever want to take a dead guy and just be like, hey, just relax, dude.” (Andrew, 20:57)

4. Gameplay: Navigating the Book's Three Narratives [26:55+]

• The book is organized into three main tracks: Helen, Jed, Saunders—each with its own branching journey and endings.
• Craig and Andrew set up live polls so Patreon listeners could guide which character to follow and which choices to make.

Key Narrative & Choices: Helen’s Story [30:16–53:01]

• Helen: In love with unreliable Jed, encouraged by family to consider steady (boring) Saunders.

• Choice: Defy her family to marry Jed (the “bad boy”) or marry prudent Saunders (“the drip”)?
  Community poll leans Jed.

• Through a cascade of choices (eloping, living with Jed’s overbearing mother, Jed’s decline and death, poverty, remarriage opportunity to Saunders), the hosts marvel at the relatably uncomfortable consequences.

• The narrative highlights:

  • The limited agency women held.
  • How time jumps swiftly (a marriage or a child can occur between paragraphs).

• Memorable moment: On Helen's first wedding anniversary with Saunders, debating whether she should go have fun with her current husband, or grieve at her first husband’s grave.

  “Don’t editorialize to me, Consider the Consequences. I’m gonna go out with my husband!” (Andrew, 51:30)

• Ending for Helen:
  Marrying Saunders and choosing joy (taking off mourning) leads to discovering she’s happier than expected.

  “Having a good time was part of a wife’s duty.” (Read aloud, 52:36)

Key Narrative & Choices: Jed’s Story [54:04–71:32]

• Jed: Wealthy, charming, weak-willed, pressured by his mother. Timeline seems to cover relationships prior to Helen.
• Poll decision: Marry Gwen (his lover) after an affair leads to pregnancy.
• Rapid descent: Jed struggles in lower-class life, fails as a provider, relationship with Gwen dissolves, mother pressures for divorce.
• Jed’s talent (painting) emerges as he flees to Europe. He falls for Marion, a career-driven woman.
• Key decision: Follow Marion to New York (give up Paris art scene), or remain in France?
• Optimal Ending:
  Marries Marion, who balances career and family, Jed finds success painting Canadian glaciers.

  “Jed was the type of man who is ruined or saved by his wife.” (Read aloud, 69:54)

Key Narrative & Choices: Saunders’s Story [72:11–90:40]

• Saunders: Dependable, responsibility thrust upon him. Entirely non-romantic narrative, revolves around family business, loans to his brilliant brother Alfred, and civic involvement.
• Choices veer into town politics and corruption—a far cry from romantic angst.
• Key choice: Participate in low-level graft to secure his brother’s future as an architect, or refuse and risk everything.
• Deciding to go along with the corruption leads to a spiral: family scandal, regret, and eventual financial hardship.

  “To make a success in crime, one must put one’s whole soul into it as one must into any profession. People raised to be honest would better resign themselves to remaining honest.” (Read aloud, 90:40)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the book's moralizing:

  “The lesson of this book so far is that these three people are at their best when they have nothing to do with each other.” (Andrew, 75:37)

• On period gender roles:

  “So Jed died of being a delicate little flower!” (Craig, 43:47)

• About party books as entertainment:

  “Welcome to my party where I just hold a mirror up to you. Get ready.” (Craig, 19:10)

• On party game audience:

  “If this is a party book, who's at the party? ... What is the class of the people at the party and what fun are they having at the expense of the characters?” (Craig, 73:02)

• Summing up the experience:

  “Glad for Jed that we found a woman who had the perfect combination of masculine qualities and other stuff for him to drip by.” (Andrew, 93:20)

• On the heft of Saunders’s plot:

  “I was told I would be considering consequences. I guess I did not know what kind of consequences I would be considering.” (Andrew, 82:41)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Book/Gamebook History & Context: 06:26–08:33
• Author Biographies & Party Book Phenomenon: 11:48–19:37
• Contemporary Critical Reception: 20:10–22:15
• Setting Up the Game (Character selection): 26:55–30:16
• Helen’s Narrative Playthrough: 30:16–53:01
• Jed’s Narrative Playthrough: 54:04–71:32
• Saunders’s Narrative Playthrough: 72:11–90:40

Reflection & Closing Thoughts

• The hosts express surprise at how much more varied (and sometimes more serious) the consequences are compared to modern gamebooks.
• Each character’s arc seems almost hermetically sealed from the others, with few crossovers.
• Helen’s section highlighted limited female agency, Jed's explored the consequences of privileged fecklessness, and Saunders tackled the perils of well-intentioned compromise.
• The episode concludes that, although the book is a novelty, it offers “tonal whiplash” and unexpected insight into gender, class, and moral choices—just not always at parties.

Final thought:

“I might be inexorably drawn back to this book to just kind of play it on my own... It told me that I'm allowed, so I might go back and do that.” (Andrew, 95:57)

Next Episode: Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (“Marple Madness!”—first Miss Marple book to enter the public domain)

For more, including their upcoming schedule, visit overduepodcast.com and consider joining the Patreon at patreon.com/overduepod.